MLS Power Rankings Week 8: Altidore leads TFC, Seattle tops Portland

The top two or three teams in each conference of Major League Soccer are struggling to distance themselves a bit from the rest of the field. After eight weeks, six points separate the teams in playoff places on both coasts.

MLS matches have been accused of being too low-scoring at times, but Saturday provided 20 goals across four matches, including four apiece between the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City in a wild draw punctuated by Benny Feilhaber's thunderous strike in stoppage time.

On Sunday, Toronto FC won for the first time since Week 1. A slow-paced first matchup of the season between eternal rivals the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers closed out the week, with Clint Dempsey's late, fortuitous winner marking a return of the close matches.

Here are some thoughts as the second month of MLS play comes to a close:

NYCFC’s growing pains shouldn't surprise

Despite poor results and a six-game winless streak, New York City FC’s expansion season always seemed likely to be a struggle in the early going. The team still has plenty of time to reverse course, especially when it’s finally at full strength, as six teams in each conference make the playoffs.

Beyond attracting the wrong kind of attention off the field, the Frank Lampard debacle has left NYCFC reeling for a midfield anchor. Mix Diskerud will drift into spaces and occasionally make a major impact such as his opening-day goal, but he’s largely a chameleon-type of player who needs strong support. A couple thigh injuries have also left David Villa—pardon the pun—hamstrung between good performances so far this season.

Manager Jason Kreis has experience building a team through an early rough patch: he finished 6-13-7 with Real Salt Lake in 2007 after his surprise takeover on May 3. That team’s best form came as the season dragged on, and it finished 4-4-3 in the final run. Hopes and expectations may have been higher for NYCFC after a year to prepare for the inaugural campaign, but patience will have to be exhibited as the building in the Bronx continues.

The Revs also failed to score in their first three before exploding for four against RSL on Saturday, but it’s in defense where they have improved the most.

After conceding five in the first two games, New England has only given up two goals in six. Jermaine Jones’s return from an offseason injury boosted the defense even further in the last two games, as he now anchors the back line.

His rangy style that causes the United States problems with its shape when he plays there for the national team actually benefits the Revs. Jones led the team with nine interceptions all across the defense two weeks ago and five against RSL.

Reinforcements on the way for Portland

After beginning the season without MLS All-Stars Diego Valeri or Will Johnson, who are both recovering from long-term injuries, a return to full strength is imminent for the Portland Timbers.

Johnson played 63 minutes for Portland’s USL team on Saturday, and Valeri made the bench in a 1-0 loss to the rival Sounders on Sunday.

They were injured and began their return-to-play protocols at similar times, Johnson recovering from a broken leg and Valeri from the second torn ACL of his career. They’re both playing 100 percent in training now and just need to regain fitness through playing pain-free minutes.

Results without them have been inconsistent, alternating wins and losses for five matches since three draws to open the year. Despite their replacements having plenty of time to establish themselves, one of the league’s best passers and one of the team’s leading tacklers should comfortably slot back into the lineup and strengthen the Timbers both in attack and defensively.

If TFC's defense remains consistent...

Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco showed on Sunday what Toronto’s attack can do when it plays to its potential.

They combined well, including on the quick restart that gave their team the lead early in the second half. After going down a goal at home, Orlando City SC pressed hard for an equalizer through Kaká. The Toronto defense held strong, finishing the game with 26 clearances and 19 interceptions in its defensive half of the field.

TFC had conceded three goals in each of its two previous matches and hadn’t kept a clean sheet all season before closing out this week’s game—and it only had six all of last season as well.

The Reds still looked shaky under pressure as Orlando went forward continually, but the 2-0 win provides a springboard on which to build their next performances. If that gradual growth continues, Toronto FC could, at long last, find itself in the playoffs.

The Sounders needed an assist from Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey to defeat the Timbers, as he bobbled a service into the box before Clint Dempsey tapped it over the line.

2

2New York Red Bulls

last week: 1

record: Record: 3-0-3 | This Week: 1-1 vs. LA

The Red Bulls remained the league's only unbeaten but needed to come from behind at home to tie the Galaxy after conceding in the eighth minute. Felipe scored the equalizer for New York.

3

3Vancouver Whitecaps

last week: 2

record: Record: 5-2-2 | This Week: 1-2 vs. D.C.

The Whitecaps scored in the second minute, but it all went downhill from there—from conceding an equalizer to Matías Laba’s red card before halftime to losing the game to D.C. in the second half.

4

4D.C. United

last week: 6

record: Record: 4-1-2 | This Week: 2-1 at Vancouver

It’s rarely the prettiest of games from D.C., but United continues to get scrappy results such as its red-card-aided 2-1 road win over Vancouver.

5

5Los Angeles Galaxy

last week: 5

record: Record: 3-2-3 | This Week: 1-1 at Red Bulls

After two straight wins, LA went into a hostile Red Bull Arena, got an early goal from 18-year-old Bradford Jamieson starting in place of the injured Robbie Keane and managed to hold on for a draw.

6

6New England Revolution

last week: 14

record: Record: 4-2-2 | This Week: 4-0 vs. Salt Lake

The Revs are unbeaten since the first two matches of the season, and a dominant 4-0 win over Real Salt Lake could be their breakout performance that leads to more of the same.

7

7Columbus Crew

last week: 8

record: Record: 3-2-2 | This Week: 4-1 vs. Philadelphia

Ethan Finlay and Kei Kamara led a four-goal charge to victory against the Union in Columbus’ best attacking performance of the season.

8

8FC Dallas

last week: 4

record: Record: 4-2-2 | This Week: 1-1 at Colorado

In a rematch of Dallas’ most embarrassing result this season, it fared a bit better the second time around but only took a point from the struggling Rapids.

9

9Real Salt Lake

last week: 7

record: Record: 2-2-3 | This Week: 0-4 at New England

After going five games unbeaten to open 2015, RSL has lost two in a row to teams that could be contenders at the end of the year.

10

10San Jose Earthquakes

last week: 9

record: Record: 3-4-0 | This Week: Off

The Earthquakes had their first week of the season without a match after a 2-0 drubbing by the Red Bulls; they return with a tough stretch of three away games in seven days starting Friday.

11

11Chicago Fire

last week: 13

record: Record: 3-3-0 | This Week: 1-0 vs. NYCFC

Twenty days after its previous match, Chicago scored a couple minutes before NYCFC went down to 10 men to defeat the expansion side by the minimum margin. David Accam did the honors, taking full advantage of a Ryan Meara howler.

12

12Portland Timbers

last week: 11

record: Record: 2-3-3 | This Week: 0-1 at Seattle

Manager Caleb Porter’s newfound pragmatism frustrated Seattle, but the Timbers couldn’t get anything out of the game despite coming close to scoring before and after giving up the winner.

13

13Sporting Kansas City

last week: 12

record: Record: 2-2-4 | This Week: 4-4 at Houston

Sporting KC continued to leak goals in Houston, unable to win despite putting four past the Dynamo, which gives Sporting the worst goals-against number in the Western Conference and second-worst in the league. Benny Feilhaber's heroic late rocket salvaged the draw.

14

14Houston Dynamo

last week: 16

record: Record: 2-2-4 | This Week: 4-4 vs. Sporting KC

It wasn’t a banner day for the Dynamo defense at home, either, but Houston will feel unjustly punished by Jermaine Taylor’s incorrectly called handball on the goal line that led to Sporting KC’s third goal.

15

15Orlando City SC

last week: 10

record: Record: 2-4-2 | This Week: 0-2 vs. Toronto

Like expansion counterpart NYCFC, Orlando has hit some serious growing pains in its first MLS season, having lost three of the last four while being shut out in the last two.

16

16Toronto FC

last week: 18

record: Record: 2-4-0 | This Week: 2-0 at Orlando

Jozy Altidore’s double — his first goals since the opening week of the season — ended a four-match losing streak for Toronto that began directly after a win to open the year.

17

17New York City FC

last week: 15

record: Record: 1-4-3 | This Week: 0-1 at Chicago

Andrew Jacobson’s 24th-minute red card buried NYCFC, which was outshot 24-8 in a 1-0 loss to the Fire and saw its winless streak extend to six matches.

18

18Colorado Rapids

last week: 17

record: Record: 1-2-4 | This Week: 1-1 vs. Dallas

A late goal from Nick LaBrocca following Blas Pérez’s red card allowed Colorado to take another point off a Dallas team against which it has had decent fortune already in 2015.

19

19Philadelphia Union

last week: 19

record: Record: 1-5-3 | This Week: 1-4 at Columbus

Put anybody in the Philadelphia goal–it’s not going to matter if the defense doesn’t vastly improve in front of the man between the sticks.

20

20Montreal Impact

last week: 20

record: Record: 0-2-2 | This Week: Off

The Impact’s extended time off from MLS play continues, and it will be nearly a month between MLS matches when Montreal finally returns from a league-provided respite to focus on the CONCACAF Champions League.

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